Guest Review: The Dead Ways by Christopher Edge

Today my fiancé talks about The Dead Ways by Christopher Edge.

About the book

The Dead Ways by Christopher Edge is the first in a series of the same name. It is 191 pages long and was published on 1 October 2011.

Synopsis

Ghostly apparitions on abandoned motorways...corpses escaping from hospital morgues...sketons crawling out of their graves...THE DEAD WAYS ARE OPENING. 

The Government has a plan to clean up the environment - closing down motorways and returning the roads to nature. When Scott Williams' Dad is found dead in his government office, Scott resolves to find out the truth behind his death. What he discovers is a far reaching and sinister conspiracy to open ancient lines of power sealing this world from the next.  As the roads close, the dead will wake. Soon Scott is thrust headlong into a deadly race against time. It'll be the end of the world if he loses.

What I thought

Hmmm Zombies...like Vampires and Werewolves...like teenagers with smartphones...they're every bloody where. I therefore wasn't completely convinced when picking up this book that I would enjoy it as I thought it was more of 'that sort of thing' and not really sure if it would be mine.

The good news is that I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The bad news is that I don't think I care enough to bother with reading any more in the series.

I picked this book up from my wonderful fiance's reading shelves because (a) I needed something to read on the train and (b) because the cover looked quite cool.

Scott Williams is the son of a civil servant. His Dad is seemingly involved in a Government Green scheme to help the environment by replacing motorways with efficient high speed trains (this is in England - how far fetched is this?!) to allow nature to reclaim the land that we have built roads on. Of course it's a front for something more sinister...namely the opening of The Dead Ways - ancient lines in the Earth that keep our world apart from the next...queue creepy ghosts, the recently dead rising, skeltons crawling out of their graves...all that good stuff.

The pace is blistering from the first page to the last. The prologue kicks it all off and it is pretty unrelenting all the way through. Some of the creepy scenes are a little creepy but there is no intestine eating going on here - probably because of the target audience - shame.

I enjoyed Scott as a character. He is courageous, rebellious, resourceful. He is likeable and easy to root for as he tries to find out exactly what his Dad was involved in and why he died...often dealing with threats to his own life and hardly anyone to turn to for help. Detective Jason becomes involved, a cynical sort, unwilling to believe the evidence of his own eyes but driven to do the right thing, especially by Scott. They make a good team.

I did enjoy it from start to finish but I'm not sure I care enough about what happens next - at least not enough to actively seek the next one when it comes out. If someone hands it to me and I have a few hours to spare I'd probably read it (and probably enjoy it) but I won't go looking for it otherwise.

Guest Review: The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller

Another lovely review by my fiancé today! 

About the book

The Innocent Mage is the first in the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series by Karen Miller. The paperback is 522 pages long and was first published on 25 July 2005.

Synopsis

Being a Fisherman like his Father isn't a bad life, but it's not the one that Asher wants. Despite his humble roots, Asher has grand dreams. And they call him to Dorana, home of Princes, beggars...and the warrior mages who have protected the Kingdom for generations.

Little does Asher know, however, that his arrival in the city is bring watched by members of The Circle, a secret organisation dedicated to preserving an ancient magic.

Asher might have come to the city to make his fortune, but he will find his destiny.

What I thought

Ah fantasy. Oh how love it. Such vivid characters, such epic escapism. Such bloody long books...and so many of them!  I can't tell you the number of times I've been in a book shop, attracted by a suitable looking cover, to find that the book I am holding is book 8 of 50! Damn it! Now I have to get hold of 7 other books before I can read this one! I am also not the fastest reader in the world. For example I have been reading through Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series for about 4 years and am still only on book 10 - I've been reading other things as well of course but you get my point.

'What has all that to do with this book?' I hear you whisper. Well I shall tell you. I appear to have happened across a series with only 5 books (so far) in the series. Not only that but the book I happened to find is the first (yes, the first) of them all! This never never happens to me.

I should say at this point that I actually really enjoy reading through epic fantasy series..I just get a bit frustrated with how long it takes me.

To this book! I got this book from the local library, it having been recommended by a friend who got it from the same library. She demanded I read it. I'm very glad she did.

Asher is a fisherman from a little fishing town. He is honest, outspoken, sometimes seen as rude, downtrodden by his elder brothers and understood only by his Father it seems who has not been the same since the death of Asher's mother. Asher decides to travel to the city to spend a year (no more, no less) making his fortune to take home to his poor old da so they can buy their own fishing boat. Being the youngest he wants his Da to be proud of him. However on arrival in the city, it seems destiny has other ideas for Asher and his life takes a completely unexpected turn. Is Asher the long prophesied Innocent Mage? What does that mean for his life, his goals and his promise to his dear old da?

I absolutely loved this book. Asher is such a breath of fresh air to read. He says exactly what he thinks and he doesn't care who he says it to...be it a stable hand, an innkeep or royalty. He isn't rude though. He's just Asher. Reading, you are treated to knowledge about Asher that he doesn't have himself which makes you root for the character even more. 

I love a fantasy world that has all types of flawed and interesting characters. Also characters with layers, with depth. All of the characters in this are extremely well written. The story is fast paced and kept me gripped.

As much as anything, this book is about the friendship between a fisherman and a prince. Prince Gar is also a great character, born to be king but seen as unwhole by his family and his subjects because he was born without the magic that defines his people. A serious, studious man, shunned by people behind his back but not to his face, Gar relies on Asher for the honesty that he doesn't get from others around him. Their relationship is at the centre of the whole story and you can see what it means to both of them.

I won't ramble on or I'll give the whole story away. I loved this book (did I mention that?). It has everything - drama, humour, tragedy and angst. Action and heroics, magic, the lot.  Now go and read it! Frustratingly the library don't have the second one. Aaarrrgggghhh! Hello Amazon.

Guest Review: The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

It isn't very often I have guest reviews on the blog. Actually, I don't at all but today, my wonderful fiancé John is reviewing for me. This was one of his own books but I have sneakily asked him to write a few more reviews for me, seeing as he's reading from my pile at the minute anyway!  

About the book

The Prisoner of Heaven is the third book in The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The paperback was released on 7^th March and the book is 320 pages long.

Plot Synopsis (Taken from Goodreads.com)

Barcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named Julián, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city’s dark past.

His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s and the early days of Franco’s dictatorship. The terrifying events of that time launch them on a search for the truth that will put into peril everything they love, and will ultimately transform their lives.

What I thought

I can't tell you how excited I was when I heard about this book. This is the third in the Cemetery of Forgotten books series, set in and around the Sempere and sons bookshop in Barcelona. The two previous instalments were The Shadow of The Wind and its prequel The Angel's Game. This is my favourite series of books and Carlos Ruiz Zafon is my favourite author. I read this book in one day and I loved every page.

The Prisoner of Heaven is both sequel and prequel to The Shadow of the Wind (it will make sense if you read all three) and is also a sequel to The Angel's Game. The 3 books in this series are written as stand-alone, interconnected stories, designed to be read in any order. They share characters, locations and events but I'd recommend reading them in publication order - The Shadow of the Wind first, then The Angel's Game, then this one. It will give you a richer, fuller reading experience and I also think The Shadow of the Wind is the better of the three so a good place to start.

As I said, The Prisoner of Heaven is a sequel to The Shadow of the Wind and events follow on from that book. Daniel Sempere is married and has a son and all looks good for him - until the past catches up with him. I am deliberately not going into plot details because the less the reader knows the better. Trust me.

Compared to the previous two books, The Prisoner of Heaven is actually a pretty short and non-complex story. It fills in some blanks from the previous books and helps those two books slot in together. It adds some scope to it. This book also sets things up nicely for the fourth, concluding part, which Carlos Ruiz Zafon had better hurry up and write!

I can't recommend this series enough. They are magical, gothic, supernatural, mystery, thriller, horror, comedy, historical, haunting stories. The characters are fantastic and I just love them. The Prisoner of Heaven is as fantastic as the others - but make sure you read them first.